Sunshine by Sunshine
They may have to fight a Czech band for their name (they’re currently involved in an ongoing coldwar on Reverbnation where they’re cancelling each other’s shows), but it’d be a shame for them to lose it. Sunshine‘s current moniker matches their carefree sound off their eponymous debut album perfectly. Before their first of two shows at Sled Island, the Vancouver band—singer/guitarist Trevor Risk, bassist Tyler Quarles, guitarist Ian Urbanski, singer/keyboard player Gillian Dambourg and drummer Sean Tyson—sat down with Jon Roe for Q&A about what they’re listening to and who they’re excited to see at Sled. You can catch them tonight at 10 p.m. the Bamboo.

I had read that Trevor had a fear of cars. Had you never been on a long road trip before?
Trevor Risk: No I had, it just developed in my adult life. Like, someone actually develops a phobia when they’re adults—it doesn’t make any sense. And I swear it’s not some Marc Bolan thing. But I got rid of it mostly and I was just in England for two weeks. If you can drive around rural England for two weeks with an 85-year-old man driving, you can drive anywhere.
Ian Urbanski: And he just bought a car two weeks ago and he won’t shut up about it.
TR: I thought the only way I can totally get over this is buying my first car. Now I’m okay. But it’s an old car and you have to stand on the brakes to make it work. I was driving over here for the first time and I gave everybody whiplash because I thought I had to stand on what are clearly 2013, power-assisted brakes.

At this point is music a career for most of you guys? Or do you have other jobs outside of playing in bands?
TR: We’re white collar, we’re like The National.
IU: We all have very professional jobs.

What do you do?
Sean Tyson: I work in high tech, in start ups.
TR: I work in music actually, but I work for a music magazine, I DJ, I promote shows and I work at a record label.
GD: I work as a graphic designer for Lulemon’s head offices.
IU: I’m a geologist consultant.
Tyler Quarles: I was a freelance art director, but now I’m working (on contract).
ST: He bought a new bass.
TQ: Haven’t even plugged it in yet! I hope it works.

Do you all have to leave by Saturday?
IU: (Risk) has to leave on Friday. I want to stick around to see Explosions in the Sky.

Who else are you excited for?
IU: I also want to see Iceage tonight. We have friends in Bear Mountain, who are playing after us.
TR: I’ve seen Jon Spencer twice in the last year and they were probably number one and number four best shows in the last five years that I’ve seen. The new Jon Spencer album is his best album yet. Oh and the comedy, Brett Gelman.
GD: And Pat Kelly.
IU: And Eric Andre.

What do you guys listen to when you’re not at Sled Island?
TR: 98 Degrees.

98 Degrees?

TR: I’m not kidding.
GD: We listened to that on the way up.
IU: (“Microphone”)’s about oral sex.
TR: Everything’s about oral sex. “My Ding-a-ling” by Chuck Berry is about oral sex.
IU: There’s a Vancouver band called Apollo Ghosts that just disbanded a month ago and they had their final show. They put out three albums and a couple EPs. And I’ve just been straight time listening to Apollo Ghosts. Last night, I sang just about every song.
TR: Well you talk-sang every song. The cadence was there. But you just talked it.
IU: I have the worst voice in the band by far.
TR: You knew every word, for 45 songs in a row. That’s how I knew he was still awake. I’m sure he could do it in his sleep, but he didn’t waver.
TQ: You know what album I’ve been listening to in the last week that’s actually really really good? Fugees The Score. It’s a great album. All of the talk downs, too, are really great.
TR: It’s lewd. My mom’s sister adopted a kid from Haiti when I was young and she got her that tape. She was five and they listened to it once. They mailed it to me, I still have the cassette somewhere. I was like, why? Oh wait, they swear a lot on there.

Recent Headlines

For Herald food writer GWENDOLYN RICHARDS, a love of citrus did more than ward off scurvy. It also led to a career shift and the publication of Pucker, her first cookbook. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth; I’ll take a cheeseburger over cheesecake any day of the week. But if there’s a lemon dessert […]

The fall of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago this month marked the end of three decades of oppression, and inspired great jubilation through much of the Western world. But for many German families—those who lived in the cold shadow of the barrier—the Wall’s fall in 1989 revealed how much they had lost. […]

Original Swerve editor Shelley Youngblut had ordained that we were just the likely suspects who could start the ball rolling on a new magazine that she saw clearly, but about which we had our misgivings.“A weekly magazine?” I asked Jacquie that day. “I mean, have you ever?”